Keeping It Personal with Automation

When it comes to the interview process, the word “automation” is often met with a negative connotation. With more and more companies removing people from their hiring process and utilizing automation solutions, it is no wonder why candidates have been left with a bad and impersonal taste in their mouths. However, in a digital hiring age where the void between job applicants and employers continues to widen, it becomes ever more important to bridge that gap. One thing is for sure: at a time when applying for a job is easier than ever, hiring teams are becoming increasingly overwhelmed by applicant volumes and do not have time to effectively review large candidate pools.

Depersonalization of the Market

The de-personalization of the job application and review process has been two-fold – On one hand, the past 10 years exhibited exponential growth in the number of methods by which candidates can access job postings. They are able to simply drop a resumé on a website and are left hoping it lands on the employer’s desk who will invite them to an interview. On the other side, employers, overwhelmed by the number of applicants, have turned to technologies focused on automating the resumé screening process. The goal of these technologies is to identify the best candidates without any real human touch. However, resumé screening algorithms cannot capture the full picture of who a candidate is and, therefore, result in well-qualified candidates being eliminated. These two competing dynamics have driven the job market into a state of de-personalization without leaving anything to bridge the gap.

Fact: The resumé has become an inadequate source of information needed to identify the underlying qualities that make up a strong candidate.

But how do we get the information needed?

Any hiring professional will tell you that there is no substitute for hearing a candidate respond to questions on the phone. As human beings, we are primed to understand people through their voice. Moreover, it’s not always what people are saying, but how they are saying it. Unfortunately, it has become an overwhelming time burden on hiring professionals to phone screen each candidate to learn more about them.

Hiring professionals don’t have enough time to hear from all candidates and thus are forced to rely heavily on resumé based screening techniques. In my opinion, and from personal experience, a resumé can be one of the most deceiving aspects of a candidate for both good and bad. Good candidates can appear to have a lack of relevant experience, while other candidates who appear good on paper turn out to have no knowledge of their desired industry and relatable experiences.

“It is a dirty secret of the hiring industry that as resumé stocks grow, the methods used to sort them become increasingly subjective.”

This increase in subjectivity is driven by the time constraints put on the hiring process and the need to fill positions quickly in order to avoid losing out on top talent. We created JabaTalks to bring balance to that process – giving every candidate the opportunity to express themselves, while offering hiring teams the time efficiency needed to act quickly.

Bridging the Gap

JabaTalks combines the resumé review with an automated first round phone screen offering insight into EVERY candidate’s soft skills and directly related job experiences. Phone screens exist for the purpose of skill validation and explanation. By providing candidates with the opportunity to briefly explain their background, skills, and motivations; hiring teams are able to quickly hone in on top talent and move forward with them in an expedited manner (without spending hundreds of man hours in the process).

JabaTalks redefines the automated interview process and brings back the personal touch by providing each candidate with the opportunity to be heard.